Shadows in the mind
by Crevan Erebos
Summary: On the night of Order 66, one girl is purposefully left alive to become a new Sith warrior. She struggles to find her new place amongst the Empire. Crazy hijinks ensue. WARNING MPREG IN LATER CHAPTERS If you don't like it, please don't read it.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

A small human girl ran up to a green-scaled being, bobbing at her elbow agitatedly. "Aerin?" she said in a high voice.

The taller draconian tore her slit-pupiled eyes away from the starfighter she was studying. She ran a finger down her muzzle in an unconscious gesture. "Yes, Laureli?"

"Come on!" the younger girl squeaked. "Everyone else is leaving!"

Aerin sighed. "Coming." She padded after the flighty human, self-consciously furling leathery wings tighter to her back. Her personality drove her to desire solitude, and she hated being stared at.

The older clans of Jedi Younglings were dispersing after one of their routine starfighter classes. Beings of all types were heading their separate ways, clad in the tan tunics associated with the Jedi. A few wore the same dark navy tunics that Aerin did, that showed that they had not been picked as Padawans and were 13 years of age.

A warm, damp wind swept in through the open hangar doors, rustling cloth, hair, and wings. Aerin raised her muzzle and sniffed the breeze. It smelled like rain and green growing things, like spring...

"Hey guys! We're over here!"

Laureli's shout jerked Aerin back to reality. They had found the rest of their clan waiting in the hall outside.

Sabrel, a human with dark hair, wore the same dark-blue tunic Aerin did, and an air of nonchalance. She was the oldest of the Raven Clan, followed closely by Aerin, and she self-elected herself to be leader.

"What took you so long?" A short human named Riko demanded. He was a few years younger than Sabrel and Aerin, and small for his age. He tried to seem older by acting condescending to everyone.

The draconian barely glanced at him. "I was studying a starfighter."

Riko shrugged. "You know too much already. Give the learning a rest."

Aerin made a strange coughing bark. "Well, that's not a likely endeavor," she laughed as they traversed the halls of the huge Jedi Temple. She fell to the back of the group, managing to shake Laureli off her arm. "What did you think of today's flight class?" she asked the fifth member of the Raven Clan.

Nat, a clawdite, shrugged. "It was fine." He was quiet and serious, holding his counsel for more serious matters. Most days found him in the shape of a dark-skinned human that he preferred.

Aerin nodded, knowing that was as much as she could get out of him in one go. A thought struck her, and she strode forwards impulsively. "Did any of you see the Delta 7 Jedi starfighter in the back of the hangar? The one I was looking at?" She pivoted and began walking backwards to face them.

"I did!" Laureli exclaimed brightly. Everyone else stared at Laureli.

"Did you think anything about it was interesting?" Aerin said, trying to get a real answer out of her.

Laureli's eyes glazed, and Aerin fancied that she could see the electricity spark in her mind. "It... It was a pretty color!" She finished.

Aerin sighed, disappointed. "Maybe. I personally don't like yellow all that much." She shook her head. "What am I saying?" Her mind righted itself." I meant to say that it was extremely modified. More efficient, in theory. And do you know how hard it is to modify engines?" She tucked an errant strand of fine feathers behind her spiky ear fin. The feathers were daily mistaken for hair- it was similar, she would always admit, but the structure was different, and were one of the factors that classified her as a reptomammal. She turned around, speaking over her shoulder to them. "I wish I knew who owned it-" She leaped back quickly as she looked up and nearly collided with a Jedi. Her four-foot tail lashed, keeping her balanced; she hoped that she didn't cut anyone with the barb on the end.

The Jedi was startled out of his thoughts by her sudden movement, and put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"I'm glad you like my ship," he said, still preoccupied. He stared at her vaguely canine face, but his mind was still elsewhere; she could tell by his eyes. "I'm very proud of it." He smiled awkwardly.

Aerin dipped her head in a small bow. "You have reason to be proud, Master Skywalker."

Anakin Skywalker immediately fixed his full attention on her. "I'm not a Master yet, I'm afraid," he said with forced gaiety.

Aerin was taken aback by the resentment that burned in his eyes and wondered if he was angry with her, or someone else. Before she could try to placate him, he stepped back, taking his hand off her shoulder.

"I should be going now." He nodded to the rest of the Raven Clan, who were standing mutely behind Aerin, and strode off, back to his ruminations.

Aerin watched his cloak disappear around the corner before she reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged off by Laureli.

Sabrel shook her head as the winged being struggled to rid herself of the happy Laureli she had acquired.

"I wish I could get the chance to talk to a Jedi Knight as handsome as him," she said as she gestured back where the Jedi in question had gone.

Aerin disentangled Laureli from her arm. "I'm sure you would Sabrel, I'm sure you would. It might be a different kind of conversation though," she said keeping the laughter out of her voice.

Sabrel pouted becomingly and tossed her sheet of black hair over her shoulder, making every male Padawan in a 50-foot radius go weak-kneed. "Of course, that's one of your faults, although not a bad one at that."

"If that's one of her faults," Riko cut in, "Then anger is one of yours, Aerin."

Her ear fins went back, and she stared at him with eyes more deadly than any lightsaber.

If Riko had been watching his opponent instead of making sure everyone heard him, he would have reconsidered debating against her. The last person to get that stare- a human that had called her 'lizard freak'- had an embarrassing accident a few days later involving machine oil, ball bearings, a bucket of compost, and a toy duck that squeaked. No one had ever accused her of doing it- of course, the Padawans said, who'd want to accuse a being with razor-sharp teeth? Not me - but it was definitely possible.

"Why do you think that, Riko?" she said in a carefully controlled growl.

"Uh...well...anger and hate lead to the Dark Side!"

Aerin frowned at the mantra the Jedi Masters had drilled into them. Then her eyes unfocused and she stared at nothing. "But they don't, do they? Emotion is perfectly normal, but we're suppressing it; if it would surface, we wouldn't know how to deal with it. It would be the Lost Twenty all over again." She shook her head. "But the Masters wouldn't tell us untruths." _Would they?_ She thought worriedly.

"Anyway, everyone _knows_ the Sith Lords are evil," Riko stated as if it would solve everything.

"But what's evil about them?"

"Well...they're bad and stuff, and they wear black, and they use the Dark side!" Riko finished, jabbing a finger in the air to emphasize his words.

"But the Force is singular," Aerin reminded him. "It just depends on how much you want to use. And wearing black doesn't make you evil. You may correlate it with evil in your mind, but that itself won't make you evil."

"What? Co- corol- whatever you said. What do you mean?"

"It means," she said, "that you connect it. Didn't you know? The Masters say that all the time."

Nat spoke up, and the others fell silent, knowing that he would say his part once, and only once.

"Aerin's right. White _is_ associated with good and purity, but black was never originally thought of as evil. It's associated with sophistication and plainness." He fell quiet and introverted in on himself again.

"And the Sith held the Galaxy together for centuries," Aerin said. _Better than the squabbling Republic ever could, anyway, _she thought, adjusting her wings with a gentle rustle.

Sabrel and Nat were starting to get nervous, glancing around in case any older Jedi were in the halls. They had been overheard and reprimanded the last time their conversation had taken this track.

"Well, yeah, but Democracy is a thousand times better!" Riko shot back. "Beings were miserable when the Sith ruled," he finished heatedly.

"But aren't people miserable now?" Green eyes dared him to argue.

"What!? No! Because of democracy-"

"What about the Separatists? What about the millions of beings in poverty? The Outer Rim planets that are so far behind everything else? Aren't they miserable? More miserable than a thousand years ago, because the Senators promise to make everything better, but they only mean it for themselves?" _What about _my_ planet?! What about my entire _species_, without technology, without starships, preyed on by bounty hunters? Forced to work as slaves on other planets? What about _them_, Riko?_ She wanted to scream that into the ignorant boy's face. Her entire body shook with the effort of restraining herself.

Sabrel forced herself in between the two. "Be quiet!" she hissed. "D'you want to get us in trouble again?"

Aerin turned away with a snarl, and shoved open the door marked with a Raven, indicating the room belonged to the Raven Clan.

The room had bunks lined against the walls, stacked two high. Most of them were empty, as most of the Raven clan had become Padawans already. Aerin immediately climbed up into her bunk up by the ceiling. She'd left the debate- _all right, an argument,_ she admitted - with more doubts than she'd started with. _Are the Jedi all they're supposed to be?_ She flopped on to the bed, staring at the ceiling._ I can't be worrying about that- I should be worrying about whether or not I'll become a Padawan!_ She sighed, and easily started daydreaming of flying. _Someday I'll fly._ She rustled her wings irritably. _I hope._


	2. Chapter 2

Sabrel planted herself by the bunks Aerin and Laureli had- top and bottom, respectively. "Hey, Aerin!" She saw her sit up and whack into the low ceiling.

"What?" the disgruntled draconian called down, rubbing her head with her paw.

"We're going to dinner! If you don't hurry up you're going to miss it!"

"Coming!" She scrambled after the others, grumbling about bruises.

Entering the Dining Hall in the Jedi temple was like walking into a solid block of sound.

Aerin walked through the crush of beings, ear fins straight back. Her head began to throb from the bruising it had gotten, and she picked up a tray and received food from the droids on duty.

"Hi, Aerin!" Laureli had appeared out of nowhere. "I saved you a seat! Come on!"

"What?" Aerin shouted above the noise. "I can't hear you!" Laureli repeated herself, her high voice grating, and then clamped onto Aerin's elbow and dragged her to a table where the Raven Clan and other beings their age sat.

Aerin shook herself loose from Laureli and drew close to the table in time to hear Riko remark, "Yeah, Aerin's the biggest, greenest Raven you'll ever see this side of the galaxy."

The other beings close enough to hear him laughed uproariously, but fell silent when the draconian in question appeared behind Riko.

Aerin bent down and growled in the boy's ear, "Why yes, Riko, I am. How good of you to have noticed." Riko turned around, wondering if she was joking. "And the big, green ravens from my planet get more than twice the size of me, did you know that?" Riko paled and looked away, and she continued. "I guess you didn't, after all." She straightened and went to the empty end of the table.

Aerin picked mechanically at her food, trying to ignore her pounding headache, and felt guilty about retaliating so strongly to Riko's joke. She always felt horrible about doing anything like that, but... _he's just so irritating! _She scowled and stabbed at her vegetables on the plate. And on top of that, she couldn't make up her mind on her doubt about the Jedi teachings she'd been raised on. She remembered what Skywalker had said earlier- _'I'm not a Master yet, I'm afraid' -_ and stared blankly at the table as she made a connection. He was on the Council, but he wasn't a Master? She stood up and picked up her tray, feeling shaken. _The Council couldn't have done that..._

"Laureli."

The small girl looked up to see her canine-faced friend.

"If the others ask where I am, I've gone to the Raven quarters, okay?"

Laureli nodded, wondering why Aerin was so preoccupied.

Aerin stalked through the deserted corridors, taking the long way back and trying to wrestle her thoughts into order. She halted by one of the windows and stared down at the Temple's front entrance and the huge steps.

_A legion of troopers marched up the steps under the cover of darkness._

Aerin blinked a few times, then glared peevishly at the sky. _It's not dark yet..._ She clutched at her head as it seared with pain. _I must've hit my head harder than I thought._ On a hunch, she reached out with her mind into the Force. _That's what's wrong..._ The whole fabric of the Force felt unbalanced.

She stepped away from the window and ran off. Her spine tingled as if someone was watching her, and the spikes along her spine stood upright. _Stop that!_ She scolded herself._ There's nothing wrong, I'm just scaring myself, just like that time I told a ghost story and Sabrel dared me to go in the Temple in the middle of the night..._ Even while trying to calm herself, she sped up until she was nearly sprinting. She hurtled around the corner and dropped onto all fours as her species did for extra speed, and smacked into the door, fumbling to open it.

The Raven clan left the Dining hall in a happy, loud group.

"Hey, where'd Aerin go?"

"She went back early!"

"Yeah, I think she hit her head earlier."

"Aah, headaches, I hate them."

The door closed behind her, and Aerin let out a shaky breath. She chided herself mentally for letting instinct get the better of her._ You don't want to have that problem again where you can't speak Common, like that one day..._Still, she was happy to get out of the halls. She climbed up into her bunk and pulled out her trusty drawing materials. She flipped to a blank page and began to draw a kybuck, the type of little deer from Kashyyk that she adored. Her heart rate was just settling when her Clan mates came in.

"Something's wrong," she heard Nat say to Riko before Laureli's piercing voice filled the room.

"Aerin! Where are you?!"

She jerked up, hearing her name, and snarled as she hit her skull hit the ceiling again with a dull thud.

"I'm up here," she said, leaning over the edge of the bunk.

Laureli looked up. "Oh." She nibbled nervously on her thumb. "Everything feels all weird! What's going on?"

There was a green blur and a thud as Aerin jumped down. "There must be a battle somewhere against the Separatists," she told her, as much to assure herself as to assure Laureli.

_A tall human covered in all black stood before a window and took a long rasping breath. The speeders outside sped through Coruscant's night with unusual frenzy..._

Aerin blinked dazedly at the image that appeared in her mind's eye.

Laureli was confused at her friend's sudden disconnection from reality. As the older draconian tried to decipher what she had seen, Laureli pointed to the piece of paper she held in her paw. "What's that?"

Aerin glanced at her sketch. "Oh, this? Just a drawing..."

"Can I see?"

Before she could reply, Laureli grabbed the paper. "Wow! This is really good!" She stared a bit longer. "What is it?"

Aerin sighed. "It's a kybuck.

Laureli stared blankly.

"You know, from Kashyyyk?"

Laureli looked confused. Aerin bit back a testy reply. _Just tell her simply._

"It's a deer-like thing. It runs around, jumps high, and doesn't make a lot of sound. There's one here in the Temple, remember? The one that Master Yoda owns. We saw it once when we were little." Once the younglings had been shown the different animals kept in the Temple. Laureli had hidden behind Aerin for the whole time, until they came to the kybuck's small enclosure. Laureli had reached in to pet it, entranced by its gentle eyes, but the kybuck snorted and reared in protest of the little hands that reached in. Laureli screamed and ran away from the enclosures. Aerin, concerned by the animal's discomfort, had moved closer and placed a paw on the fencing, on the outside. She clicked her tongue and purred softly to assure it she wasn't a predator, and the kybuck had allowed her to pet it, under the envious eyes of all the other younglings. She'd become fast friends with it and came almost every day to talk to it and give it company.

Sabrel looked up from the tabloid she was reading and peered over Laureli's shoulder. "Not bad, lizard face," she said off-handedly. "I didn't know reptiles could draw."

Aerin bristled. Literally bristled- her spines and ear fins rose in anger. "Better than certain humans could," she snapped.

Riko waded into the fray. "Control your anger, Aerin! Anger and hate-"

"I've heard enough about anger and hate, thank you," Aerin said as she rounded on him, eyes blazing.

"Let's hope that whoever picks you as a Padawan has the same views as you, otherwise you'll fight all the time," Sabrel remarked.

Riko's eyes shone. "I'd like to be Master Windu's Padawan," he breathed.

Aerin snorted. "Nonsense. He doesn't take Padawans, usually, and he's too busy..."

The others pounced on the subject, arguing their own cases.

"Whose Padawan do you want to be?" Laureli asked Aerin.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "I don't really care, I just want to be picked." _That is, if there's a Jedi that doesn't hate me..._

"Oh. Okay." Laureli launched herself into a full-scale description of her wants.

_Maybe... Maybe Anakin Skywalker would pick me?_ Aerin thought. _He doesn't think badly of me, far as I can tell... Nah. There's the same-gender rule, and he's newer than other Jedi._ She shook her head, and Laureli stopped mid-sentence.

"You don't think that's a good idea?"

"What?" Aerin had no clue of what Laureli was saying. "Oh! No no no no, that's great..."

"Oh good! I knew you'd-"

Aerin held up a paw for silence and cut her off. The Force, what little she was aware of, sparked with lives that flared and guttered out. Her ear fans quivered and adjusted to collect sound. "Blaster fire," she whispered.

The others heard as well and fell into an uneasy silence. Shouts filtered through the door.

"This is bad," Riko said.

"What's happening?" Laureli whimpered.

Aerin carefully opened the door and looked out. She saw nothing, but the sounds of fighting were coming from farther in the interior of the Temple. She closed the door and turned to face the other four beings watching in silence. "Someone attacked the Temple," she said in a shaking voice. "I can hear them fighting."

"Maybe it's the Separatists," Riko said with wide eyes.

"But what'll we do?" Sabrel said in a hushed voice. "Help the Jedi, or escape and get help from the clone troopers?"

"I'll fight," Aerin growled. "Anyone with me?"

The rest of the Raven clan clamored that they would come too, and they piled into the corridor.

"Remember, we need to stay alive," Riko said nervously.

"Stick together, and we'll be fine," Aerin assured him. "We have the element of surprise."

Laureli looked worried. "This is so scary!"

Aerin laughed, a harsh barking sound. "Then let's give them scary," and shot off down the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

They ran at first following the sounds of battle, but then the sound of fighting died away and they kept on going, trusting to luck.

The halls were completely deserted and empty at first, not just the empty that comes from people always being there but not in sight, but true desolate emptiness. They started seeing scorch marks on the walls and slumped, motionless figures in the corners, and followed them straight to a scene of total destruction. Scores of Jedi and Padawans lay scattered about from whatever attacking force that had come in.

Laureli burst out sobbing, and Riko clamped a hand over his mouth.

Aerin dropped to her knees next to a Padawan her age. A horrified curiosity gripped her, and she rolled him on to his back. Fear colder than any winter she had ever felt washed over her when she saw the fatal wound, a stab from a light saber.

_Who would do this?_ Her mind screamed silently and she scrambled back from the body. She looked up and her shock was enforced as she saw Sabrel kneeling next to a little girl who had been killed the same way, tears streaming down her face.

"Here."

Nat stood next to her, offering her a salvaged light saber. He was close to tears and his voice was choked, the most emotion she'd ever seen him display.

"Take it," he said, shoving the hilt towards her. "_They're_ not using them any more, and we can't do much with just our fists."

She plucked the proffered weapon from his hand and got on her feet as he went around handing the weapons to the others.

Sabrel picked her way over to Aerin. "D'you know where they're heading?"

Aerin peered around, and walked farther along where the hallway entered the huge front entrance. "It looks like they're heading for the Council Chamber..." She trailed off. She spotted something on the floor below, near the Temple's entrance. "You can go. I'll catch up in a minute."

The Raven Clan, sans Aerin, pounded up the staircase and raced to get to the Council Chamber. As they reached the top of the staircase and charged onward, Nat stopped and shouted, "WAIT!"

The humans skidded to a halt and stared at him in shock. Nat had never raised his voice over speaking volume since he was two.

Nat was breathing hard, not in fatigue but in stage fright. He didn't want them to pay so much attention to him but he needed to say this. "We need to make sure that they haven't set up a trap for us. We need to scout ahead."

The humans looked awkwardly at one another. None of them seemed fit for scouting.

Nat looked anxiously back and forth. His face fell, and he looked at his feet. "Well… I guess I could…" A line of sweat ran down his forehead and he bit his lip.

The humans stared in mute shock as Nat slowly changed shape from human to an insect-like Geonosian.

Nat stood panting at the extreme pain of shape changing, then scuttled away, climbing up the wall to the ceiling.

The humans looked at each other in shock. They'd never seen Nat change form before.

"Now we have someone to scout for us!" Laureli said cheerfully.

Aerin crept silently down the staircase until she could see the being closely, and let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't an attacker; it was the kybuck, frightened and trembling. She whistled softly. "Here, boy," she called in a low voice.

The kybuck trotted over and pressed close to her, nearly in hysterics from fear.

She knelt down to be level with the small ungulate's head, and slipped off its halter. She petted it on the nose and tried to tell it how to get to safety. "And keep away from people, okay?"

It nuzzled her, then turned and leaped out of the Temple through the wreckage.

Aerin stood up, ignoring the salty water on her cheekbones, and climbed back up the stairs to find her Clan.

The rest of the Raven Clan was catching their breath outside the Council Chamber when the draconian ran up.

"Did you find them?" she murmured as she walked up to them.

Riko jerked his head towards the door. "They're all in there, as far as we can tell, and they haven't figured out that we're here yet." He nodded to Nat, who opened the door as the others gripped their lightsaber hilts.

Aerin stared in wide-eyed shock at the Republic clone troopers packed into the room, the younglings dead underneath their feet.

As soon as the Raven Clan could understand what they were seeing, they ignited their lightsabers and charged as one. As soon as they plunged into the mass of startled clones, they were separated in the heat of fighting. The clones rounded on the young beings, encircling them, and began firing.

Aerin roared defiance at the clones, deflecting the shots with her lightsaber. Some of the clones fell back, stunned by their own shots. One of the troopers crept close and shot her through her left wing. The force of the laser knocked Aerin forward snarling as it burned straight through the membrane.

The clone that she stumbled towards shrank back, trying to aim his gun with trembling arms. Aerin ran him through, feeling numb with fear. The clone keeled over, and she felt lightheaded as she realized he was stone dead.

Then her wing flared with pain again and she pivoted, turning off the lightsaber, and decided to do something unorthodox.

The clones' marksmanship was inadequate as they tried to shoot down the green being that launched itself at the clone that had shot her.

Aerin slammed into the clone's torso, and he shouted as her weight unbalanced him and knocked him on his back. The others ceased firing, afraid of hitting their comrade.

The clone tried to wrest the lightsaber out of her paws, and she caught a glimpse of his identification number- TK-8038.

TK-8038 gave up on her weapon and punched her in the jaw, trying to get her off his chest where she crouched like a nightmare, pinning him down.

Aerin snapped. She whipped her head forward like a striking snake and buried her teeth in his unarmored neck.

He screamed, high and long, giving her enough time to leap up and escape through the masses of stunned clones.

She broke free and leaped over one of the Council chairs, crouching behind it to shield her. She coughed and spat, clearing the human's blood out of her mouth and lungs.

_Clickclickclickclickclick..._

Aerin stood up and turned. The clones all trained their sights on her, guns and armor making clicking sounds.

Aerin ignited her lightsaber, glancing around to see if the rest of her Clan would help her. She saw Nat lying on his stomach, not in human form but in his original Clawdite one. Only when they died did they automatically change… She realized then that she was terribly, terribly alone.

An animal-like growl started in her chest, slowly cycling through the decibels into a roar as she tensed, ready to leap and fight, blind with rage and fear...

"Stop."

The frightened draconian snarled once and fell silent.

A man, hooded and cloaked, shoved his way through the clones.

"I'll take care of this one," he ordered the clones. They lowered their guns obediently and the cloaked human pulled out a blood-red lightsaber.

Aerin jumped over the chair and stood squarely facing him.

"Well then, this will be easy," the human said. Aerin thought that just from the tone of his voice that he was bluffing. His voice was cracked, tired and unconfident.

Aerin whirled off a formal salute with her lightsaber that he returned. _Yes!_ She thought. _He's doing it out of habit- and it looks like he's holding his lightsaber in the Vornskr method..._ She was worried then that he might kill her easily- the 'Vornskr' method of lightsaber fighting was fast and aggressive, just like its namesake. She smiled eerily at him as she devised an idea.

Then she charged, roaring like a Krayt dragon. The clones slapped their hands over their ears to shut out the sound that filled the room, but her enemy stood, unmoving. A muscle in her ribs moved, and she felt a gentle warmth flood her throat and mouth as flames cascaded out her open jaws.

Both of the fighters leaped in shock. Aerin skidded to a halt and clamped her jaw shut firmly, cutting off the fire. She looked up only after making sure that she wouldn't breathe fire again, and her jaw dropped when she saw that the man's hood had fallen back and exposed his face.

_What?! Skywalker?_

"No!" she howled, and attacked.

She thought she wouldn't stand a chance against the experienced Jedi, or ex-Jedi,_ or whatever he is,_ she thought bitterly. But he was exhausted and unsure and she was full of many conflicting emotions that gave her as much energy and guidance as the Force would. Her rage and fear fed her like fuel to a fire, giving her seemingly infinite bounds of energy.

Back and forth they fought, blocking, twisting away, re-engaging, each trying to get the upper hand. He used a series of strong above-the-head swings, driving her back. She countered back with a crescent-moon shaped attack, forcing him to defend. He parried her, locking their blades together and the stood shoulder-to-shoulder, trying to force each other back by sheer momentum and strength; him towering over her and trying to force her to the ground, and her digging her claws deep into the floor and thrusting up with all her strength.

Aerin saw that he had been crying; his eyes were red, and his cheeks glistened with tear tracks. She was surprised at the discovery;_ I wonder what it was that made him cry_, she wondered.

He realized that she was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and sympathy and he broke away, sending her skidding backwards.

Aerin scrambled up, and leaped at him as the clones watched in amazement. She was about to hit him when there was a blur of movement, and she jerked to a halt, held up by her neck. Anakin held her at arm's length, his fist clamped around her neck, cutting off her air.

Her lightsaber hilt hit the floor and rolled away as she clawed at his hands, twisting and kicking. For a split second she thought that he relented, loosening his grip. She inhaled quickly, trying to remember how she had breathed fire, and looked up at him. She stopped struggling, seeing past his eyes and into his mind with her strange talent of seeing someone's inner self. He was horrified at what he was doing- his mind split almost equally in a struggle between light and dark.

Maybe she had imagined it, when in the next second he hurled her full force into a wall.

Aerin barked in pain as she smacked into a durasteel reinforcing beam. Her head hit the wall with a crack and she slid to the floor. She felt tendrils of the dark side wrap around her body and tighten. She staggered to her feet, snarling in defiance as the room spun around her; out of the corner of her eye she saw Skywalker close his hand into a fist, causing the force restraints to snap tight around her, knocking the breath out of her. Her footing slipped as he dragged her forward.

_Oh no you don't,_ she thought. He could pick her up like a rag doll and smash her into oblivion, but she wouldn't allow that to happen as long as she still had life in her veins. She yanked away, losing her balance and falling hard on her side.

She lay there panting, and opened her eyes. The clone she had bitten lay a few yards away, and she was faintly surprised that he was still alive. The clone commander kneeled next to him, trying to staunch the bleeding. Aerin closed her eyes, wishing she had someone to help her like he did.

Then she heard footsteps- she opened her eyes to see Skywalker loom over her. She tried to raise her head, and pain lanced along her spine, dragging her into unconsciousness.

She heard voices.

"Master, here- the one that used the dark side."

Someone knelt next to her and cold fingers brushed against her temple. She caught the human's scent and a wave of the dark side swamped her mind at the same time. The draconian growled in disgust, wanting to get away from the repulsive human.

"Very good, my apprentice. You have made a wise decision," the human said, and stood up. "She will come easily to the dark side, and help us bring order to the galaxy."

Aerin shifted her head and a wave of pain ran down her neck. A moan escaped her lips, even as she tried to stay silent.

Take her to the Rehabilitation Center, where she can heal," the human went on, "And then come to me. I must tell you of our final task to end the war…"

Aerin's eyes flickered open. It was nearly twilight. _Am I dreaming?_ She wondered. She could see a bloodstain on the floor where the trooper was earlier. In the eerie silence she heard one of the speakers- the older one with the strange scent, she could tell- leave the Council chamber.

Anakin turned to look at the draconian where she lay, her eyes open but unseeing. He knelt down next to her, and he saw her ear fins twitch as she registered the sound of his movement. He carefully slid a hand under her shoulder and another under her knees. The draconian seemed to jerk back into life, snarling and weakly trying to get away from him.

He sat motionless, wary of her claws. "I'm not going to hurt you anymore," he said. His voice seemed to make her calm down, and she tried to move her head to look at him. "Don't move now. Your neck is hurt." She made no response.

He gathered her up and stood, gently cradling her against his body. "Commander," he said over his shoulder. "Take your men and guard the Temple entrance."

The commander nodded and the clones filed out quickly. He followed them out, turning automatically towards the hangar bay. He kept talking, seeing that the young draconian was half-conscious, trying to keep her awake. Several times he had to adjust her weight, jostling her wing accidentally. She would snarl in pain, and he felt an involuntary icy finger of fear run down his spine as he remembered how badly hurt the one clone was. Her jaws were just an inch away from his own neck, and he tried to reassure himself that she could barely move her head. Her breathing seemed to become more painful, each breath rasping in her throat, and he tried to go as fast as he could without hurting her.

Finally he reached the hangar bay- empty, save for his own fighter. He opened the cockpit and tried to make room for her.

The astrodroid on the wing of the fighter switched on and rotated its dome to look at the two beings. It chirruped a question.

Aerin turned her head slightly to look and uttered a low mournful noise, followed by clicks and chirps like a droid.

Anakin stared as R2-D2 seemed to reply, and Aerin sighed and made a low humming noise. R2 chirped happily and swiveled around again. Anakin stared blankly at R2-D2, then shook his head and gently deposited the draconian in the fighter. He leaped into the pilot's seat and switched on the engines.

"R2, give me a readout of where the Rehabilitation Center is," he said. Then he took off into the night, weaving in and out of slower traffic.

The med droid on night duty was taken aback by the fighter that skidded to a halt on the front landing dock. Someone jumped out, holding another being that looked like it had far too many limbs to be humanoid in the twilight. The med droid rolled over to the front entrance and saw the figures in better definition.

Anakin ran in the front entrance with Aerin in his arms. The med droid stared expectantly up at him.

"I'm here on Palpatine's orders," he said. The droid nodded. "Get this girl patched up, and quickly."

"Wait a moment, please," the droid said. It disappeared into a room and came out with two other droids and a hover stretcher. Anakin set Aerin down and the droids immediately whisked her away.

Anakin stood there for a moment, wondering if he could wait to see if she would be fine, after all the injuries he had caused. Then he shook himself. He had orders to follow.


	4. Chapter 4

This was the strangest dream Aerin had ever had.

A blue-and-white droid was staring at her. What's going on? It asked.

I'm in pain, Aerin said. Everyone has been killed. Why do you ask, since I've never met you?

Calm down, it replied. Annie is a good man. Just look where you are. You aren't dead, and you have a future. I will watch out for you.

Aerin sighed. If only life could really be like this. This is a good dream. Thank you. She felt dimly that she was somewhere warm, held by someone. Her muzzle was pressed against the being's neck, and she could feel their heartbeat.

The droid laughed and turned away. Get well soon, it said.

Suddenly the person let go of her, and she dropped into cold, stifling blackness. She fell-

Aerin sat up with a gasp, and winced as her neck and eyes immediately registered pain. She was sitting on a bed with white sheets, in an all-white room. Bright light flooded out of hospital sun-replicators on the ceiling. There was an object of some medical use, unknown to her, sitting in the corner. She tried to sit up more comfortably, and blinked as she realized something was wrong. She twisted to her left, and blinked again as she saw that her wing was held open by a metal brace. She looked for any plausible cause, and saw the lighter patch of scar tissue on the membrane. Her memory flooded back.

"This kind of thing takes weeks to heal," she whispered. Hot tears flooded her eyes. Nobody would know her, if the Jedi were all weeks dead and Anakin off somewhere continuing to kill people, or whatever it was he would be doing. She would have to find a job somewhere on Coruscant with a made-up past, a fake name…

The door to the room opened, and she whipped around.

A med droid came in and saw her. "You're awake. All the better." It came over and began examining her wing. "The new bacta treatment worked perfectly." It began taking off the brace and disassembling it.

"Excuse me," Aerin said. "How long have I been unconscious? When was I brought here?"

"A human who works for the Emperor brought you here early last night. You've been unconscious for 12 hours, almost exactly."

Aerin breathed a sigh of relief.

The droid folded the brace together with a snap and started to leave.

Something nagged at the back of Aerin's mind. "Wait, who is this Emperor?" she called after the droid, but it was already out of earshot.

Aerin sat dejectedly, staring at the open doorway. Finally she swung her legs out of bed and stood up, feeling extremely confused. She was halfway to the door when she felt a shiver run down her entire body. She looked at herself and realized that she was just wearing a shirt and pants, and the hospital seemed to have its heating set at 'Hoth winter' level. She turned around and spotted her tunic draped over the back of a chair and her boots propped against the chair leg.

She picked up her tunic and stared at it critically. It was singed, torn and bloodied. She grimaced and set it back on the chair. She glanced down at her shirt - it was better off than her tunic, but it was still beat up. Another critical glance ruled out wearing her boots- the floors were warm, strangely, and her boots never fit properly anyway. The Jedi never seemed to get the hint that some beings had their legs built differently- like a dog- and couldn't wear humanoid boots.

Padding along down the wide hallway, Aerin saw no sign of any other life or even droids existing in the building. Satisfied that no one would miss her, she slipped away down a side corridor to explore.

Moving randomly, Aerin came upon a wing of the building where the empty hospital wards were replaced. After looking around and scenting for any sign of beings or droids, she pushed the first door open. The room had tens of hundreds of old, dusty artifacts on display. Aerin sneezed and closed the door.

The next room revealed strange mechanical parts, and the next a gigantic crystal that hummed with force energy, making the draconian stop and stare in awe.

She shouldered open a door at the dead-end of a corridor and halted in shock. Her eyes widened in the dark to see and her jaw dropped. The room was stuffed, floor-to-ceiling, and wall-to-wall with books.

"Whoa," she breathed, and smiled in incandescent happiness. There were never books anymore, having been almost completely replaced by holos, and books were her own personal favorite. She stepped over to a shelf and ran her fingers along a row of books, pulling one out. She flipped it over in her paw and read the title.

_A History of the Sith_, she thought. _Very current-events related_. She shrugged and sat cross-legged on the floor, opening the heavy cover.

The first page had one line of text- _"Two there will be, no more, no less. One to have power, and one to crave it." –Darth Bane._

Intrigued, she read on at a ferocious pace, forgetting all about the outside world.


	5. Chapter 5

Aerin was fully immersed in the history, her muzzle bent over the crackling pages, when a noise- not a noise, as much as what she thought of as a force noise- jolted her out of her meditative state. She suddenly realized how much time might have passed and scrambled to her feet.

Hurriedly she snatched two more books of the shelf- _for later,_ she thought, and dashed out of the library and back along the corridors, automatically remembering the layout of the places she'd been.

She noticed a few med droids rushing about, and nearly tripped over a tiny one as she walked en route to her hospital room.

After opening her door with her wingtip-something she'd perfected years ago for moments like this when she was carrying something- and dumping the books on her bed, she noticed the tray of food left on the table for her. She thought that she had probably just missed the deliverer, as the food as still warm, when she started eating. After being in the library for so long, she realized that she was ravenously hungry, her only judge of time. She pulled the Sith history over to the table and continued eating and reading absentmindedly. Now if only she had warmer clothes, then she could stay here for ages.

Some time later, she jerked up at the sound of a starship landing, sounding as if it were just outside her room. She burst out into the hallway, tripping over another med droid as it dashed across her path. The hall was filled with med droids, most of them heading in one direction at a frantic pace. It reminded the draconian of a school of fish all rushing to get at food. Filled with curiosity, she headed in the direction they went, ending up in the main wing, and after wandering a bit found herself in the main entrance of the building.

Outside, it was a stormy evening, with driving sheets of rain gusting across the doors and landing platform. Aerin could just barely see a shuttle outside, and as she watched several clone troopers emerged, carrying something large with them. Another being came after them. As they hurried toward the entrance, Aerin could see that the troopers were carrying a medical capsule, used to transport seriously injured beings. The last being was stooped and cloaked, and Aerin unconsciously shrank back.

She hovered around, unsure of what help she could be as the troopers piled in out of the rain. The draconian peered inside the med capsule, and jerked back, immediately wishing she hadn't. The image of the maimed, burned and scarred human that lay there in agony with an oxygen mask over their face would haunt her for years.

_What in all the worlds happened? _She thought in horror. The clones took the capsule along the corridor and Aerin trotted after them. _Who was that?_

She hadn't realized that she was walking alongside the cloaked being until he spoke.

"You put up a good fight against my apprentice, young Aerin."

"Thank you, sir," Aerin stammered, taken aback. _Who are you and why do you know my name_ was what she wanted to say.

"Unfortunately, now you are healthy and he is wounded," the man went on, indicating the capsule before them. "When he is well enough we will discuss your training. I do not wish to neglect it at such a time when you should already have a Master and be halfway to the end of your training."

Aerin kneaded her sore neck, not really hearing him. "Wait a minute… That's Anakin Skywalker?!" she yelped.

"Yes, as he used to be known. His name is now Darth Vader. Do not use Anakin again."

"Sorry sir, I didn't know- I've been unconscious," she grumbled. "Sorry sir, I mean no disrespect, um-" she tacked on to be safe, her cheeks flushing deep green.

Calmly the man said, "You may address me as Emperor, for now."

Aerin ducked her head, wincing as the injured vertebrae grated. "Yes sir, your

Imperialness, sir." She berated herself for being rude to the new Emperor as soon as she met him. _Great job prospect, _she thought.

The clones took the capsule into an operating room and left. The Emperor was discussing something with a droid, apparently that the droid disagreed with.

"But sir, without the use of anesthetic on something like this-" Aerin heard the droid say before the Emperor glanced at her and she glanced away, pretending that she hadn't heard. When the Emperor had finished talking, the droid rushed into the room, the doors closing behind it and sealing with a hiss.

"Will you wait for Vader?"

Aerin looked at the Emperor, seeing only shadows inside his hood. His voice suggested that it wasn't a question. "Yessir."

"Good." The Emperor left silently, leaving Aerin standing in front of the operating room, more confused than she'd been in her entire life.

After standing there, shivering, for nearly half an hour, glancing around for any person to question, Aerin sat down in the lone chair across from the doors. She closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down, trying to meditate. Her eyes flicked open once, as she heard something like a dentist's drill or a buzz saw turn on and she shifted nervously. Eventually she started dozing off and wondered if she could run quickly to get a book before the Emperor returned. In her half sleep she smiled ruefully, thinking that if it got any colder she would start hibernating.

Suddenly a blood-chilling scream split the air and Aerin fell out of her chair, leaping to her feet with wide eyes. She started pacing back and forth, her fight-or-flight instinct keeping her wired. At first she speculated that her old nightmare had come to haunt her, and then she heard Anakin-_No, Darth Vader,_ she corrected herself- scream in pain inside the operating room. She halted by the door, lashing her tail as she frantically wondering what was happening. She imagined that the buzzing sound earlier was some sort of horrible tool they were using, and moaned in horror at the same time as another moan reached her ears, mingling into one note in her mind.

She shook her head, trying to empty her mind, and started pacing again. Every time another scream came from the operating room the draconian flinched, halting momentarily before trudging on again.

After an hour of the strange ritual, Aerin wearily curled up in the seat of the chair, resting her aching neck over the ice-cold armrest. She stared at the ceiling through her blinding headache, and fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming that she stood in endless bleak corridors, running constantly towards shadowy figures that vanished as soon as she tried to look at them.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I do not own Star Wars. Or anyone except the people I make up to place in it, like Aerin. It belongs to Lucasfilms. Thanks George Lucas for making this awesome thing for us to have fun with. (So don't sue me! I'm not making any money!) 

The Emperor swept through the newly named Imperial Rehabilitation Center to the room where his new apprentice was, the surgery to keep him alive complete. He paid little attention to the sleeping draconian that waited, like an ancient statue of a dragon out of myth.

Aerin stirred and watched, half-asleep, as the Emperor entered the dark room. She slipped off the chair with a slither and stood up, trying to listen to the muffled conversation inside the operating room. Her wing stretched out without pain, but any movement in her neck sent shards of pain running down her spine as she stretched sleepily. She wondered briefly if she should go inside after the Emperor, and crept up to the open door. Her head snaked around the frame, then whipped away and she hastily plastered herself to the wall, stunned by a scream that felt like her heart was being torn in two by the sheer misery in the sound.

A tall, black-clothed figure stumbled out and leaned against the doorframe, sending Aerin shooting away to stare from the safety of the other wall. The Emperor appeared next, more placidly.

The girl's wings were trembling uncontrollably, a sure sign in her species as the last stage of fright before they went into an unstoppable escape from whatever danger presented itself. She stared at the man's helmet before swallowing hard and turning to face the Emperor. "Sir?" She fought to keep her voice steady. "Could you please explain what's been happening?"

Vader looked up, seeming to see her for the first time. Aerin's spines stood on end as she heard his rasping breath.

The Emperor had a thoughtful air about him. "Yes, now would be a suitable time to explain. Come along, both of you."

Aerin glanced at Vader out of the corner of her eye. He stared after the Emperor, then hauled himself up with a soft groan, and slowly walked after him. Aerin kept a respectful distance behind him, and she thought that his motions were unsteady like a newborn's. Suddenly he stumbled and his left leg folded under him.

Without thinking Aerin automatically shot forward to catch him, ducking under his arm and supporting his weight. She helped him stand, then realized what was happening and shrank back from the forbidding man.

"Thank you," he said, seeming surprised at his new, deep and harsh voice, and surprised at her action. Aerin just looked up at him, startled, and he made no motion to brush her away.

The two walked on like some strange three-legged race and caught up with the Emperor. Aerin eventually realized that Vader was slowing down, staring ahead with a particularly deadpan expression even for the masked human. She had seen this behavior before in battle-weary Padawans, shutting themselves off because of emotional and physical trauma.

"Almost there," she urged softly, surprising herself at her concern. The Emperor's hood moved slightly, and Aerin hoped fervently that he hadn't heard her. Her fears were abated as his motion had been simply turning towards a door that she recognized as being next to her room.

The Emperor ushered them in, and Aerin peered around. The room was softer on the eyes than her room - no sterile hospital white here, but deep blues and browns. Aerin guided the six and a half foot tall human across the carpet to the bed, and Vader slipped his arm off her shoulders and sat with a groan, his head in his hands._ He looks like any other exhausted human_, Aerin thought briefly before wondering how sane she was. But she did think that his stamina and resistance to pain was a testament to his Jedi training.

Aerin sat cautiously in one of the two chairs by the bed as the Emperor did the same. She stared out the window taking up the far wall, folding her wings carefully as she vaguely noticed that it was the middle of the night. It was the first indication of time since she had woken up, she observed calmly, past all shock.

There was a long awkward silence that lingered past all logical conventions. Aerin eventually spoke, unable to take the silence pressing on her ears and the continual rasping of Vader's breathing. She tore her eyes away from the glittering Coruscant nightscape and looked at the Emperor, who was sitting with infuriating calmness.

"I don't want to seem idiotic, but I have no idea at all of what has happened, and why. Care to enlighten a poor alien like me?" she finished, her voice dripping with derision.

The Emperor interlaced his fingers. "Very well, then. Yesterday afternoon, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi killed General Grievous, and the war was unofficially considered to be over. I had no plan of giving up direct power of the Senate, seeing as the Separatist Council was still functioning and could re-start the fighting at any time."

Aerin looked up at the mention of General Grievous with a shocked expression. 'He died?" she whispered to herself.

The Emperor went on, not hearing her. "At hearing that, Jedi Master Windu and several other Jedi attempted to assassinate me. At seeing that blatant move against the Republic, my suspicions of the Jedi wishing to gain control were confirmed. They had to be eliminated."

Aerin stared blankly at her paws, quietly absorbing the information. Her pupils were dilated, causing the illusion that her eyes were solid black, the only indicator of her emotions.

" I ordered the clone troopers and Darth Vader to remove the entire Jedi Order before they could do more harm to the Galaxy," the Emperor went on. "I then sent Vader to the planet Mustafar to rid us all of the troublesome Separatist Council. Unfortunately, Vader sustained quite serious injuries on Mustafar…"

Aerin cut in. "Please, Emperor… Palpatine," she said, glancing at him. He made no reaction to her use of his name. "Maybe Lord Vader could explain, himself. Only if he wishes, of course."

Vader's head jerked up. Even though his mask could display no emotion, he still appeared to look haunted.

"Very well, then," he said, and Aerin saw him glance briefly at the Emperor. "While I was still on the planet, Obi-Wan came and we fought. He had been to the Temple." Aerin nodded slowly. "He severed my legs at the knee and my left arm at the elbow, and left me for dead on the bank of a lava river." His voice was filled with an intense anger that made Aerin shrink back slightly in fear. "I burned alive, and I was brought here. The droids somehow thought of a way to keep me alive, and here I am." Aerin's ear-fans twitched, and she thought she heard a note of self-hate in his electronic voice.

Aerin blinked several times and dropped her gaze, feeling that he was hiding some of what had happened.

After a long moment, she spoke up. "This still doesn't explain why I'm here and not lying dead on the Temple floor," she said quietly.

The Emperor never even hesitated. "You were the only Jedi to match Darth Vader, by using the dark side. I thought this would be apparent to you."

Aerin glared at him. "I was just lucky. I'd much prefer to be alive, but there was no reason to why I survived. I never used the dark side."

The Emperor just smiled, as if she were a small child. Aerin looked away from him, infuriated.

The Emperor went on through the silence. "Both of you will need to do intensive physical therapy over the next few days. After that, your training can begin," he said to Aerin. "You will become-for lack of a better word- a Padawan."

Aerin started forward, gaping at him. "Me, a Padawan?" She sat back in her chair in disbelief. The Jedi had never offered her an inkling of hope that she could become a Padawan- for all her ability, she just seemed to not fit in. But suddenly this ruler of the galaxy was offering her the training she wanted.

"Wait a minute," Aerin said. She had just remembered something she couldn't let pass unspoken. "Darth Bane said there could be only two Sith at one time. If he's one already," she said, waving a paw at the unresponsive human in black, "then who is his master? I heard him yesterday, talking to Vader. If I was trained, then I would become the third." She stood and bristled with anger at the Emperor for leading her hopes to a promise he couldn't keep. "Of course, since all reason seems to have been abandoned two days ago, then it is possible that this mystery Sith has spontaneously combusted and died within the past twenty-four hours," she snarled. "If he's alive, I would like to speak with him before doing anything more."

"Go ahead," the Emperor said.

Aerin stared at him, her ribcage heaving in anger as her lungs sucked in air to prepare for a literal firefight. "Well? If he's in the building, I'll just find him and be back before you can say bantha," she drawled sarcastically.

"No need for you to leave the room," he said.

Aerin's eyes widened and she sat down, bowing her head in embarrassment and apology. She silently cursed herself for not linking their voice to the Emperor's before now.

"As you were saying, there will in fact be three potential Sith." The Emperor seemed completely calm at her outburst. "But Darth Bane lived a millennia ago, and times have changed. My first two apprentices… did not last very long. Now, at the start of the Empire, we need more Sith." He looked askance at her. "Where did you learn of Darth Bane? Surely the Jedi did not school their young ones on such matters."

"It was in a book, sir,'" she mumbled. "A History of the Sith. It was in a far wing of this building."

"You learn fast, little apprentice," he said. He seemed not to notice Aerin's paws clench into fists.

Throughout the whole conversation Darth Vader had sat in silence, completely indifferent to everything around him as he tried to deal with his pain. At the lull in conversation he looked up.

"I'm sorry, Master," he said to the Emperor. "But I'm exhausted…"

The Emperor stood up. "Very well then. Rest and recover, and I will return in the morning." He was out the door before Aerin had noticed he was leaving.

The young draconian leaped to her feet. "I should go, too," she said, and turned to leave. At the door, she halted and looked over her shoulder. "Should I turn out the light?" she asked. There was no response. "Okay." She turned out the lights as she stepped out. A flash of light caught her eye and she glanced back inside. What little light that came from outside starkly outlined Vader's form against the window. The image made Aerin feel the full force of the melancholy that was haunting her all day. _An empire really can be built in a day,_ she thought wryly.

She shook herself out of her musing state. "Good night," she said softly on impulse, and closed the door behind her.

The girl stood there a minute, blinking at the bright light of the hallway. When her eyes had adjusted she slowly walked towards her room.

The hospital was silent now, and no droids could be seen anywhere. Aerin let herself into her room, flopping straight onto the bed without worrying about such trifling matters as mere blankets. Her eyes closed, and she fell into the first deep sleep she'd had in almost two days.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I do not own Star Wars. Or anyone except the people I make up to place in it, like Aerin. It belongs to Lucasfilms. Thanks George Lucas for making this awesome thing for us to have fun with. (So don't sue me! I'm not making any money!) 

In the early hours of the morning, Aerin jerked awake, disoriented and drowsy. Lack of sleep wasn't quite enough to make her ignore the flow of the Force. She lifted her head off the pillows, grumbling at the stiffness in her neck. Her mind was telling her body that something was wrong, and she blinked blearily, trying to force back the sleep overwhelming her mind.

She stumbled out into the corridor like a drunken man following a treasure map. Her feet led her to Vader's door, and she slumped against the freezing metal tiredly. "What is wrong?" she muttered to herself. She flicked open her earfans, pressing them against the door.

All sleep was forgotten as she heard crying through the door- without a doubt it was Vader, with the electronic breathing. Why was more on her mind than whom. Her paw strayed to the control panel of the door, hovering over the open button. As adrenaline cleared her mind, theories popped up in her thoughts.

_It's a trap. It's a test. The Emperor is behind this. Or maybe it's real…_ Aerin decided to take everything at face value, and opened the door.

Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room, being designed for hunting in the dark. Vader was sitting on the far edge of the bed, hunched over and silhouetted by the pre-dawn glow.

Aerin padded over to his side of the bed, nearly tripping over the chairs left from the conversation earlier. She sat down on the corner of the bed carefully, making sure that there was a safe distance between her and the human so he wouldn't feel cornered. "What's wrong?" she said quietly. She was used to being the listener to beings' troubles, seemingly having no other use at the Jedi Temple.

The human drew in a shaky breath. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "Did I wake you up? Was I that loud?"

Aerin shrugged and shook her head.

Vader sighed, and raised his hand to wipe his eyes. Or tried to. Aerin stared as his hand ran into his mask, and he looked at his gloved hand, the feeling that he was desperately trying to avoid rising in his chest.

Vader broke down, sobbing into his robotic hands. Aerin froze in shock, and awkwardly patted him on the back, listening in dismay as he cried, the sound made intensely robotic but still heart-rendingly human.

"What's wrong?" she asked again. "Are you okay?" she said, a note of panic creeping into her voice.

"No," Vader said disconsolately, hating himself. "I'm not. My wife is dead, I have no limbs, and I'm trapped in this… this monstrosity of a suit!"

Aerin blinked in surprise. "Wha?" She finally got what he meant. "No, at least you have good robotics, and the suit is actually pretty impressive-" she started in shock and squeaked as Vader wrapped his durasteel arms around her bony frame and sobbed into her shoulder, like a frightened child would.

Aerin sat stiffly, scared out of her wits. Only a day ago he almost crushed her windpipe with one robotic arm, back in the Temple, and now he had_ two_ metal arms. Very, very slowly she relaxed, eventually daring to hug the human back, causing another wave of tears.

"Tell me what's wrong," she insisted, half curious and half concerned.

"I accidentally killed my wife and unborn child, my old master tried to kill me, and now I'm stuck in this suit that keeps me alive," he said into her collarbone between sobs. "Everything went so wrong!" he finished in a deep robotic wail.

Aerin was silent, unable to say anything that she thought would help him. Tears pricked at her eyes as she thought about all of the Jedi that she knew that were dead now. She blinked frantically to clear her sight, and started to purr like an enormous cat, the way she used to calm the younglings down. She was starting to feel thoroughly uncomfortable about the entire situation, but brushed the thought aside, knowing that however miserable she felt the human must feel ten times worse.

Gradually Vader stopped crying and his breathing regulated. Aerin thought that he must have fallen asleep as she felt as if her limbs were leaden from lack of sleep and motion. The draconian started to doze off, the human's warmth working as the ultimate sleeping drug because of her low body temperature.

Suddenly she jerked awake as Darth Vader tore away and stalked to the window. "You aren't really like this, are you," he said bitterly. "You're just waiting to get revenge for what I did."

"No!" Aerin said blearily, horrified. "I can't sat that I can very easily forgive you for everything, but I need no revenge." She blinked back tears again from his reminder that everyone was dead. She glanced up towards the figure in front of her, and inhaled sharply. _The image I saw in my mind's eye when I was talking to Laureli… its him!_ Further speculation was cut off as she yawned cavernously.

Darth Vader turned around. "You should get some sleep," he said gruffly.

"So should you," she replied sleepily. "You had an operation today." She got up and sat in one of the chairs, grinning cheekily. "Don't worry about me," she stifled another yawn, "I'll see that you can get some rest. It's a whole lot warmer in here than my room, anyway."

Vader started to protest, then stopped, too tired to argue. He lay down, curling up stiffly under the thick sheets.

"Goodnight," Aerin said, watching with hooded eyes as the Sith fell into an uneasy sleep.

_He was right_, she thought, _I could easily exact my revenge right now._ Her claws shot out, piercing the wood of the chair, as feeling she was coming to recognize as bloodlust swamped her senses. She shook her head clear of the fog. _Stop that. This man trusts you._ She trailed off into a stream of draconian expressions on the theme of calling herself an idiot.

She curled up on the seat of the chair, her eyes closing, and drifted into a half-asleep state, lulled by the sound of the human's respirator.

Suddenly she shivered violently, jerking awake. Muttering to herself in Draconian, she scrunched into a tighter ball, shivering as she cursed her cold-bloodedness. Her eyes flickered around the room as she searched for a stray blanket.

_There!_ She thought triumphantly. Her sight alighted on Vader's cloak, strewn over the back of the other chair where he had hung it.

Aerin stretched over the chair arm, snatching it with a quick Force pull. She huddled under the thick cloth, purring as warmth seeped through her body. A smoky smell caught her attention. She nuzzled the cloak, picking up the scent and trying to recognize it. _It smells of wood smoke…_ The scent soothed her shattered mind and sent her into a deep sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Darth Vader's eyes flickered open.

He stared at the black-gloved hand on the pillow next to his head._ Whose hand is that?_ He pulled away instinctively and stared as the hand followed. Confused, he propped himself up on his elbow and stared at the reptilian being curled up in a chair, his cloak draped over her.

The memories, fogged by sleep, came crashing back like seeker missiles. Vader sat up suddenly, pounding his clenched fist into the mattress. He was getting _really peeved_ about everything. He stood and paced in front of the window, in defiance of his pain and the ungainly robotics.

"But I like striped carpets," someone said behind him. He whipped around, and relaxed only slightly as he saw the green muzzle visible from under his cloak.

The draconian muttered in her sleep and coiled up under the cloak, her muzzle disappearing and a wing extending over the arm of the chair.

Vader hesitated briefly, wondering if he should wake her, then sat down watching the sleeping figure.

Aerin began whimpering, turning restlessly in the confines of her chair. She cried out something in a language Vader felt like he vaguely remembered- similar to Huttese- and reached out for someone or something in her nightmare. Vader reached over and gently shook her by the shoulder. "Wake up," he said gruffly. "Wake up, Aerin."

Aerin, in the depths of the nightmare that had plagued her for years, heard her name called and catapulted into consciousness.

Her head snapped up and she struggled to open her eyes and focus. She saw a dark mass in front of her that looked vaguely like a humanoid shape.

"Father?" she said groggily, and the figure came into focus. She was staring straight at Darth Vader.

Aerin shrieked and leaped up, toppling the chair backwards. Vader chuckled briefly at her reaction. Nightmare to fighting in one second, he thought, is a reaction time to be reckoned with.

"Don't _scare_ me like that!" Aerin gasped. Her limbs felt like jelly as she righted the chair.

"I did not think that you would react like that," Vader said calmly.

Aerin sagged against the chair, shutting her eyes against the bright morning light flooding through the windows. Eventually her heart stopped pounding and she opened one eye, noting that Vader was brooding angrily again. She glanced out the window, trying to determine the time.

"How early is it, Lord Vader?" she said blearily.

"The sun rose a while ago," Vader said absently. He seemed angry, but Aerin reached out tendrils of the Force to discover he was angry with the Jedi and with the Emperor as well.

Aerin opened her other eye. "You seem all rested, to be up this early." She stood and stretched like a giant green cat.

Vader watched her from inside his mask with hooded, cautious eyes. "I have mostly recovered from the operation," he said eventually. "And… I want to thank you," he mumbled. "You are kind."

Aerin was taken aback at the glimpse of a gentler Darth Vader. "Of course, sir," she said, bowing slightly.

Vader was immediately on guard again. "You must never speak of this to anyone."

He sighed slightly. "I had no intention of trusting you or anyone else. I hope for your sake that you keep silent about this."

Aerin nodded gravely. "Yes, Lord Vader. I hope to live up to your trust, as I hope that you can to mine."

Vader glanced at her, unsure if she was serious or trying to wound him with the remark. "What trust have you given me?"

Aerin tried to hide her fear under puzzlement of his question. "Well, I don't know. Maybe I said something silly in my sleep." She forced out a laugh, trying to lighten the situation.

"You actually did talk in your sleep." Aerin stiffened, her eyes lighting up with fear. "First you said some hilarious thing about carpets-" Vader chuckled briefly, remembering his overreaction. "But then you had a nightmare and were speaking in some strange language. You called me father before you woke up." Vader glanced at her, curious to find out what she had dreamed about.

Aerin felt his inquisitiveness through the Force and started thinking frantically. _How much did I say? Did he find out? Please don't ask, I can't even _think _about what happened…_ She shifted her weight and felt something soft against her bare foot. She risked a quick glance away from Vader; it was his cloak. She bent and picked it up, turning to Darth Vader. Now her eyes were hooded, disguising the nightmare plaguing her still.

"Your cloak, Lord Vader," she said, her voice dangerously smooth. She offered the cloak to him. "Thank you for letting me use it. Good day," she finished, striding to the door. About to leave, she halted. "The nightmares from my past should _stay_ nightmares," she said quietly, staring at the door. "They were real once, and I couldn't survive remembering, or living through them again." And she was gone.

Aerin sat down on the edge of her bed, letting out a shaky sigh. Darth Vader… to say the least, he puzzled her.

Disheartened, the draconian looked at the books she had brought with her from the library yesterday- Geology of Hoth, Volcanic Outer Rim formation, and _The Compleat Bestiary_, hopelessly out-of-date.

_Boooooooring_, she thought. She gathered the books up, along with the _History of the Sith_ and carried them back to the library.

New books chosen, she was about to head back when she noticed one book that was sticking out from the shelf. She put her stack of books down and pulled it out carefully, seeing that there were delicate blueprint papers jammed in-between the pages, unlike the holos used normally for everything.

The book was entirely on robotics and prosthetics, and as she looked at the folded papers jammed hastily in between the cover and pages, she realized that it had been used recently. Unfolded, the papers were detailed schematics of two robotic human legs and two different types of arms, one dated at two years ago. A dark stain spread across the top of the page, unidentifiable in the low light. Aerin touched it gently, finding it still sticky to the touch; she sniffed her damp paw cautiously, and recoiled at the scent of blood.

As she folded the diagrams back up and added the book to her selections, she reflected that even with her amateur knowledge of robotics, the designs seemed heavily flawed.

Aerin sat in her hospital room, quietly reading the robotics book, so absorbed that she nearly forgot where she was. A tentative knock at the door jerked her out of her meditative state, and she strode over to the door, jerking it open impatiently.

She looked around in consternation, seeing only the empty hallway, and then looked down.

Two round glowing eyes stared back at her.

Aerin sighed. "Yes?"

The droid raised a hand, pointing. "The emperor had breakfast placed in there," it said, sounding almost nervous to Aerin, then bolted away.

Aerin looked where the droid had indicated, and growled nervously, seeing that it had meant Darth Vader's room. She ducked back in her room, exchanging the book she was reading for another, ever cautious of the touchy, robot-limbed human. She had no explanation to give if he asked why she was reading the blueprints to his limbs.

Aerin stood in front of his door, wondering if she was really hungry at all. She had no desire to talk to him again, wanting to collect her thoughts before trying to speak with him without getting her head chopped off. Then she realized that the droid had said 'the Emperor' and sighed, knowing that that meant the Emperor would want her to interpret it as an order to go in.

She crept in silently, seeing that Vader had his back to her, and her mischievous streak wanted to surprise him. He turned around nonetheless, and she felt his mind brush hers as he sensed her in the Force. Aerin swallowed hard, remembering how cold and formal she'd been earlier to hide her fear.

"There's breakfast, if you want any," he said, waving a hand towards a tray of food. He looked away, and Aerin unfroze.

She blinked in confusion. "Thank you," she managed to say. She tossed the book in her hand neatly into the seat of the unoccupied chair, and was about to sink her fangs into a thick slice of bread when she halted.

"Have you already eaten, sir?" she asked Vader.

He stared at the young alien. "I… yes." He couldn't explain to this girl with the strange, innocent eyes how eating normally was too hard to do - he'd tried, but dealing with the mask, pressurization, not to mention the painful healing scars, was too much to deal with to do something as simple as eat. The medical droid that came by that morning had explained that they had anticipated that, and had made sure he could survive, by way of an I.V. line in his suit.

"Alright then." The draconian tore into the food like a ravenous wolf. A short moment later she sat down, carefully making a cup of tea. As she tried to take a sip of the scorching hot liquid, she glanced up at the Sith hesitantly. She wanted to try to amend any possible misgivings about her. "Umm… Lord Vader?"

He looked away from the cityscape outside, giving her a curious look, although the mask turned it into a hostile glare.

"I…" Aerin wilted under his gaze, unable to see his eyes through the eyepieces. The glare from the windows made it seem as if he had no eyes, unnerving the draconian, who used eyes to communicate. She suddenly pulled her words together. "I'm sorry about being so abrupt earlier, about my dream. Its just…" She sighed. "It's a recurring nightmare that I really don't like to talk about," she mumbled.

"I understand," he said, very quietly.

Silence hung for a fragile moment.

Vader shook himself mentally. "What are you reading?" he asked gruffly.

Aerin handed him the book, glancing at the cover. "Here- it's the Encyclopedia of the Species of the Galactic Republic." She looked at Vader. " I suppose it's a little outdated now."

Vader opened the tome, yanking the glove off his right hand to be able to grasp the pages. Aerin sat mesmerized by the movements of the hundreds of delicate pieces in the robotics as Darth Vader leafed through the book.

"Look at this" he began to say after reading a page.

Aerin half-choked on her drink as the Emperor walked in unannounced. Vader looked up at the strange noise that she made, then glanced over his shoulder and saw who was there.

"Are you recovered, my apprentice?" he said to Vader.

Vader stared at him warily. Aerin thought that he looked like a frightened wild animal. "Yes, Master," he said cautiously.

"Good." The Emperor turned away, beckoning them both. "The rehabilitation droids are ready."

Vader stood up, struggling to pull the stiff leather glove back on. Aerin gulped down the rest of her tea and leapt up after them.

"Ready?" the droid said.

Aerin unfurled her wings. "Yes," she replied, nerves making her voice higher. The ground seemed a long way away.

"Go, and remember," the droid called up, "between the air currents!"

Aerin nodded, heartened by the strangely Yoda-like advice. She edged forward, balancing on the edge of the board she stood on, 20 feet off the ground. The muscles throughout her back protested as she stared flapping her wings in a 30th attempt. She was dreading hitting the ground yet again.

"Faster!" the droid shouted at her. Aerin growled and forced her tortured muscles to move. She redoubled her efforts, taking vast sweeps of air in her wings, and was rewarded with hovering slightly.

The droid watched her with mechanical accuracy, measuring all of her vital signs and how efficient her wing power-to-lift ratio was. "Go!" it barked suddenly.

Aerin shot forward with a growl of exertion, pulling her arms in to her body and instinctively stabilizing with her tail. She folded her neck back in an s-curve, grinning in elation. A few wingbeats more brought her to the other end of the room. The wall loomed up before her and she fluttered into an awkward turn, just barely scraping the wall with her wingtip. Aerin started back to the start point, breathing hard.

She realized that she had no inkling of how to land as the droid calmly motioned for her to come down. Her wings had an idea, however, and she half-crashed into a mat and hit the ground rolling. The med droid didn't move fast enough and they ended up in a heap.

Aerin untangled herself from the med droid and stared at it. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around it and gave it a hug, causing it to make a small metallic noise in surprise.

"Thank you!" Aerin squeaked gleefully. "I can fly!"

They stared at each other for a moment, and then the droid spoke.

"You'll need to work on your landings," it said ruefully.

Aerin laughed until she couldn't breathe.


End file.
